It's Over
by Melodic
Summary: It's over,' he said. For now Happiness had always alluded them, could they ever hold onto it? Clack Ficition
1. 23 Hours until Now

My first Clack fiction so be nice 

23 hours ago

She just kept running, she could hear her heart thumping and felt it as though each time it thumped it was an earthquake shaking throughout her body. Yet she just kept running. Her eyes had just set sight on the man who had come to save her. The man she'd been trying to keep safe for nearly 2 years. She wasn't brave like him. Signing up for CTU wasn't a show of her bravery, rather a show of her heart, and right now her heart was in her mouth as she was scared to death.

A couple of unfriendly looking men had been chasing her since she had been too scared to get into her car after she had received a call from Edgar telling her about the bomb that had detonated in Tony and Michelle's car.

She knew she shouldn't call him but there wasn't anything else she could think to do; she needed him, so she had called him. He'd given her an emergency number a couple of months ago. She had met him at a motel to give him his new papers for a new ID. They were meeting too late at night for her to drive back to Los Angeles so she planned to stay overnight in the motel. He'd lingered around longer than he had ever done at their meetings. Chloe decided he must feel safe at least for now there. He began to open up somewhat to her and, as she had guessed by his appearance and frankly by his odour, he'd been sleeping rough for a couple of weeks now. She told him there was no way she was going to let him go out on the street when she was sleeping in warmth in this double bed. She suddenly realized what she had said and started to ramble about how they didn't need to share and she could sleep on the floor. He just stood there and smiled at her. She saw he was looking at her face intently like he would look at a schematic. She quickly looked away believing she was imagining things. They spent more time than she could remember ever spending just with him that night. They didn't talk all the time; they spent more time just being; being together, being themselves, sometimes just breathing. After a while they had finally conceded to sharing the bed. Chloe got in whilst Jack had a second shower. He came into the dark room. Chloe had hoped she might just be asleep by the time he came in - she had failed! He got under the covers and lay there facing her back; she could feel his eyes intently looking at her. It was too much for her, she turned over to face him. As his deep-blue eyes bore into her she saw something she had never seen before. For a moment she thought it must be the dark playing tricks in her mind, but no, it was real - what she was seeing in his eyes was lust! They stared at each other in silence till finally, after what seemed an eternity, Jack closed his eyes and Chloe followed suit.

When she woke up in the morning he was gone, the bed was still warm. She went to get her laptop bag off the floor and saw it had been opened and not closed properly. Inside the bag on the front of her laptop was a scrap of paper off an old newspaper. Jack had written a message on it which she carefully read, 'In case you ever need me....,' followed by his cell number. She knew better than to keep it or put it in the motel trash bin. She had memorised the number then burned it immediately she arrive home, choosing to brush aside completely the way he had looked at her - he was dead after all, but now she had brought him back to life!

He had spotted her now and had started to run towards her; before he knew it he had her tightly in his arms as she desperately clung to him. He was going to keep her safe - she'd given up so much for him and now he was going to try and repay her somehow. Ever since they had stayed the night at the motel he'd been thinking about her, he couldn't stop. The dreams had become so vivid it was killing him not being able to talk to her, not being able to see her. He'd hoped she'd never need to call him, she was much safer without him, but he was so glad that she had. At first he felt he was dreaming again, but the reality came flooding back; this felt like the beginning of a very bad day - he really hoped he was wrong.

Jack suddenly slightly lessened his grip on her, Chloe looked up to see what was wrong when his lips came crashing down on hers kissing her urgently and forcefully. Her breath caught at the back of her throat, her brain seemed to have stopped working, she couldn't think straight. Chloe began to try and push him away, but his grip was too strong; then her brain finally caught up with her. She began to relax realizing that the only thing now holding her up was Jack as she responded to him.

Jack finally pulled back slightly, smiling, taking in a deep breath. He released the vice-type grip on her without taking a step back, enjoying standing in close proximity for a moment. For the first time in her life Chloe O'Brian felt almost completely confused, she looked into Jack's eyes and cried, "What's happening?"

-----------------------------------------------------

Present Time

That had all happened this morning, it had been one of the craziest and possibly worst days she had ever lived through. The only redeeming quality was the fact that Jack had kissed her and now she was on her way to see him again. She had heard it in his voice, the sadness, the weariness, the desperation; she needed to go to him. Something within her was always pulling her towards him. She looked up towards Bill and without her saying anything he had told her to go to him.

Now she was wondering if this was all a bad idea. What if he had changed his mind since this morning or it was just a show of false emotions? What if she had made the mistake of turning up at the site and he really didn't feel the way she did about him? Had she read the situation wrong? Her heart and stomach started to feel as if they were flipping. No, no, Jack had kissed her and he wouldn't have done it without it meaning something; surely? Right?

She knew she hadn't read it wrong the moment they pulled up and caught each other's eye. The biggest smile of relief broke out on his face. He was sitting on the hood of a car getting checked out by a physician. Chloe got out of the car and ran straight over to him as he wrapped his strong arms around her. Chloe couldn't hold it together anymore, this day was overwhelming her. She allowed the tears that had been threatening her on numerous occasions today to escape. "It's over," he began to whisper as much to himself as her. He held her tightly towards him allowing himself to put his face into her hair. Heavily he breathed out trying to relax, glad this day was finally over. He looked at her, her face red and puffy with crying, her eyes looking irritated. She was beautiful to him; he just stood there taking in her beauty as a stray tear rolled down her cheek. He brought his hand up and with all the gentleness in the world he wiped away the tear. It brought an awkward smile to her face; she wasn't used to this much attention, it made her feel a bit uncomfortable, but she was so happy that he was giving it to her. She had calmed herself down now, back to her normal analytical state, though her eyes were still moist.

"Hey," he said with his crooked smile looking into her eyes, brushing her haphazard hair out of her face.

"Hey yourself," she said, a little less smiley than him but not sarcastically. She gave him her unique effortless smile. To other people this might have sounded rude, but Jack knew that was the last thing Chloe was being when she said it. This just made him smile more.

"How are Tony and Michelle doing?" he asked concerned.

"Michelle's still in the operating theatre they said it could be a while before she's out, but they've said that she seems to be stable at the moment. Tony is going a bit insane though," she said contorting her face, "he doesn't want to just sit around waiting for her to come out of the theatre. He's been doing some hourlies as we are really understaffed, but Bill is still trying to tell him to go lie down," she shook her head annoyed at what she saw as the stupidity of Tony. She gave a heavy sigh as she finished. "Anyway, erm, are you ok, Jack, you err, don't look too great," she pressed her lips together scared that Jack might not appreciate her concern.

Jack's lips curled straight up in amusement as he watched her face; the truth was he was happy that someone cared for him, he was happy that Chloe O'Brian cared for him, "Yeah, I'm fine, nothing time won't fix," he looked away as he said it. Though he was happy that she cared, he found denial or just acceptance easier on his health rather than dwelling on it.

"I wish we could just get out of here," Chloe said, taking her eyes off Jack to look at the floor and then back to staring into his eyes. "Can't we just head back to CTU and get the debriefings done, then we can go home, it should be safe now, right? I mean, we got all the people trying to kill me, right? Maybe I'll just rent us a hotel room for the night?" Realizing what she had just said in her rant she stopped and just looked at Jack, then she started to try and cover it up with more words. "I mean, I thought, well you haven't got anywhere to stay right now, have you? I just thought you'd be staying with me and ... I shouldn't have done that, should I?" she said, stumbling uncomfortably through her words. She looked up again from the floor where her eyes always seemed to end up if she wasn't careful, searching now for a sign to what Jack's answer was.

Before she could read Jack's face or he could answer a CTU agent came up to them,

"Excuse me, Agent Bauer, we have your daughter on the phone for you. You can take the call in the building, Sir."

"Thank you," Jack said, giving the agent a prompt to leave. "Come on, your coming with me. I'm not letting you out of my sight again," Jack said quietly, grinning at Chloe. He felt ecstatic that his daughter was ready to think about him again. "But, don't you want to talk to Kim in private?" Chloe replied, confusion plastered on her face.

Jack shook his head with a hint of sadness, "No, I want you to come with me; anyway you've been in contact with her more than I have recently," regret laced his words.

Chloe nodded her head agreeing to go inside with him; he grabbed her hand and led her into the building. She decided to linger nearer the door as they went into the shabby looking building. As Jack picked up the phone she ventured in a little bit further, smiling contently that Kim had been able to forgive Jack. Kim had been so devastated, maybe one day they could get back to where they were.

Jack picked the phone up. 'Hello,' he said. Looking slightly worried he said a second 'hello; all of a sudden two men appeared, one holding a white cloth to Jacks face and a struggle began. Chloe started to scream Jack's name desperately. Yet again happiness had eluded them. Everything seemed to be going on as if it wasn't real in her head. Jack jerked back, lifting his legs up violently and crashed them into the stomach of the other masked man. As soon as the man lurched over in agony two more men appeared bigger than the other two. Chloe threw herself into the man holding Jack, trying to help him brake free, she felt herself screaming Jack's name, but it still didn't feel real as she ripped some of the skin off the neck of the man. She could tell Jack was trying to say something but it was muffled because of the cloth over his face, Chloe turned to face him but as she did a similar cloth was pushed over her mouth and nose. The man grabbed her from behind as she began to kick and struggle but then out of the corner of her eye she realized that Jack had breathed in whatever was on the cloth. He'd collapsed into the man and was being dragged through a door. Chloe took a sharp breath in as she watched, realizing that they had lost this battle. Within a few seconds everything had gone hazy, her legs felt like jelly and her head felt dizzy as she fells unconscious to the floor.

-----------------------------------------------------

CTU is now, by all accounts, quiet. A sparse but still fresh lot of people have replaced the traumatised, tired workers. This is usual for a night shift, but this is the day! Bill Buchanan is still here; a few people had tried to persuade him to go home he just can't, he knows that this could end up being a 72 hour shift for him. The prospects don't fill him with joy but he knew the risks of this happening when he took the job.

"Look, Tony, I really appreciate you organising the files in the shoe folder, I really do, but, look, you need to get some rest," Bill said calmly in his soothing mannerisms to Tony who was stood opposite him.

"Bill, they won't let me see Michelle, it's killing me here, not being able to hold her, not be able to feel that she's breathing. Every second I'm not with her, I ... I keep feeling like I'm going to lose her," Tony said, his eyes large, his voice breaking with emotion. "I've been here before because we didn't act fast enough on the floor, and I don't want to be here again," he fought fiercely to hold back his tears, not allowing himself to break down in front of anyone.

Bill moved his hand towards Tony's shoulder and patted him, "Hey, look, you're not going to lose Michelle or the baby. They're both going to be fine. Michelle is one of the feistiest women I have ever known, if anyone's going to get through this, Tony, it's Michelle."

Tony started to pull himself back together, trying to put the pain back inside of him and stop the threatening tears.

"Tony, go, get back to medical, you need to go, lie down, get some sleep," Bill allowed his voice to get lighter as he encouraged Tony to go to medical. Tony nodded at Bill and started to head towards the dark corridors. As he passed Bill, Bill patted Tony on the shoulder again.

The trill of the CTU ringtone had hardly started before Buchanan picked up the receiver, "Buchanan," he said wearily into the phone.

"Sir, this is Agent Baker, we were about to bring Agents Bauer and O'Brian back to CTU, but we can't find them. Someone said that they heard them discussing a phone call inside the building, but the phone's off the hook."

Bill could hear alarm bells going off in his head, but he thought he better make sure, "Are you sure they haven't taken a car and bolted? It wouldn't be unusual behaviour for them." He knew he was hoping against hope.

"Yes, we're sure, Sir, we can't find them."

Tony's ears had picked up before he got to the corridor; he knew it was Chloe and Jack they were talking about, they were in trouble; Cheng was back. Bill placed the receiver back down and turned to face Tony, knowing that he would have picked up on his words.

They had to act fast.


	2. How Could This Be Happening?

Chapter 2

Chloe blinked her eyes; she had been awake for awhile now. She ran her fingers over the spot where the dull pain was. The pain was clouding her thoughts; she lifted her hand to her head, running her fingers over a raised, wet, warm, sticky lump. No wonder she was feeling woozy. She could hear the dripping coming from the damp, high ceiling, and surprisingly even in the L.A. heat she could feel a chill resting on her.

Cheng's men had literally flung Jack into the dark, damp, confined room where Chloe was. Chloe took a sharp breath in when she looked at him; his left eye was badly swollen and had turned purple. He was covered in cuts, most of them deep, and was bleeding out of his mouth; he had lost all consciousness. Chloe struggled with the rough piece of material they had tightly wrapped around her wrists. She couldn't get loose however much she screwed her face up or wriggled her wrists. So, with her arms bound she pushed herself over to Jack, being careful not to lean into him; she was sure some of his ribs were probably broken. Even with her hands bound she tried to hold him. In the end she settled for leaning down next to him, lightly resting her head on his good cheek, whilst desperately trying not to cry, but failing miserably. She just allowed the salty tears to flow freely down her face, into his wounds.

'How could this be happening,' she wondered to herself? He had finally kissed her! She had been waiting for that for years - and just 25 hours after they had been kidnapped. She was tired, tired of their lives being like that. Tired that every time something good happened, something even worse seemed to counterbalance it. Though, if she really thought about it, she knew she wouldn't have it any other way, because she knew this would always happen if she was near CTU or Jack, and those were the two most important things in her life.

Jack grunted, and Chloe somewhat embarrassed flew up sitting painfully upright. She knew she shouldn't have needed to feel embarrassed, but she couldn't help it, even in this dire situation she didn't feel right lying on top of him. Jack's first instinct was to sit up straight and quickly assess the situation. He tried to propel himself up but couldn't, the pain was too great, his face contorted in agony with the strain on his already tender wounds.

"Jack," she said, the panic audible in her voice. She guided him gently up against the near wall with her bound arms. His breathing was heavy and laboured as he forcibly blinked his eyes; he gave up trying to open his left eye. She sat next to him against the wall and tried to ignore the aching pain she felt.

They sat there in silence as close as they could possibly be to each other; the only sound was Jack's breathing which was struggling to settle down. Their thighs touched, their sides touched, their arms touched, at first they both felt a tingle, but then they let fear set in; fear of being in this situation and fear of being so close to each other. Jack had come around enough now; he was in full control of his faculties and couldn't stay quiet much longer.

"Chloe, I'm so sorry," he said quietly and hoarsely. "It's my fault you're in this mess," he growled, "I shouldn't have allowed myself to become... to become so close to you. If it wasn't for me you'd be safe," hH HHhhhh HHhhe shook his head slightly, not looking at her, as he said spoke, self-mockingly. He was disgusted in himself for allowing this to happen to her. Everyone that he got close to paid for his mistakes, and he had allowed Chloe to pay for his mistakes.

Jack jumped at the shriek which came through the air as she yelled at him.

"No, Jack, no, you need to stop blaming yourself, ok. I see it in your eyes and you need to stop it!" Pain was visible in her eyes. "The only thing you should be concentrating on right now is how we are going to get out of here!" her eyes pleaded with him as she stared straight into his eyes, into his soul, she could tell part of his fight had been extinguished. Jack shakily but as fast as he could reached out and grabbed her holding her close, nestling his head into her dirty blonde hair. The thing he'd been running from for two years had caught up with him. He knew they would be separated soon, then they'd be on the move with the likelihood they would never see each other again. He just wanted to capture her face, take it in, an eternal picture just in case his plan didn't work, an eternal picture of what he had put into jeopardy.

His body felt broken, he ached all over, he couldn't see properly, and there was a ringing in his ears, all of this he knew he couldn't hide from her. She knew it all as she gently but still firmly burrowed her head into him, gently touching and stroking his arms, his back, his legs. One thing he desperately tried to hide from her was the searing pain in his side where they had struck him with a hot, iron rod. One part of him thought it was impossible to hide it from her where the other part found it a necessity. He didn't want her to see it, she didn't deserve to. She deserved a safe steady life with a man who could provide that for her, but he wondered if Chloe O'Brian would ever be happy with that?

She could tell he was trying to hide the large red stain on his side. He was making it obvious he didn't want her seeing what they had inflicted on him. Jack didn't deserve this, he had done so much for his country already, he deserved a quiet, happy, peaceful life with a woman like Audrey who was far, far away from this world, but she wondered would Jack Bauer ever be happy living like that?

Chloe sat up, looked him in the eyes deeply, and with her own special bluntness she spoke, "I'm not blind Jack, I can see the massive patch of blood on your shirt," she paused, then with a much softer tone she added, "I can see they've burnt you." His eyes quickly flicked away and looked at the floor; his sore arms left their positions from her body and fell defensively into his lap.

"What Jack, do you think that by turning away from me it's going to make this any better?" the pain she was trying to hide so deep inside leaked out in her words as she spoke. She loved him so much it felt like it might break her.

"You think that I want you to see this? I don't even want to see this, but this is what happens to me, this is what happens when you do my job. I deserve to see this, but you don't," he said emotionally charged looking right into her eyes. He loved her so much he knew she was one of the toughest women he had ever loved, but yet she was gentle and soft and he didn't want to break her.

"Jack, there is no way that......," Chloe stopped her rant as Jack let out a pain-filled, sharp noise as he doubled over in agony. It was only a quiet noise, but for him to make any noise she knew something had to be seriously wrong. Any problem between them or friction was now forgotten as Chloe automatically put her hands on him trying to find out what was wrong, trying to find out how to comfort him.

Suddenly and violently the door flew open with one fast, sharp kick. Two Chinese men entered, one wearing a shabby, white vest, his muscles built up; the other wore smart clothes - and something else - which worried her the most; he wore a dirty, blue lab coat. She defensively wrapped her arms around Jack, he tried to reach out, to stop her, to get himself up and defend her, but he couldn't, the pain was too great. The scruffier man approached Chloe, she quickly launched her foot into his legs; he momentarily allowed himself to react to the pain, but not long enough to make any affect. He brutally grabbed Chloe making her stand up and pushing her head to one side. She fought back, but not quick enough, she felt a sharp prick in her neck as she cried out. Chloe stopped dead in her tracks. Fear overtook her, the thought of what that was going to happen ran through her head faster than a bullet flying through the air. She could see Jack's face looking at her in panic, then yelling at the men, the best he could in his pain stricken state, he told them not to dare touch her. Without full warning everything went black.


End file.
